The Nuggets entered the final two games of the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and needed to keep winning to maintain the lead over the Lakers for the three-seed in the Western Conference playoff race. And they did. And they did it with their reserves, because their starters and key players were held out for rest before the playoffs began. It was a bold move, and it paid off.
The Nuggets will start the playoffs on Saturday, April 18th, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which will give most of the starting unit and the possible NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Tim Hardaway Jr., nine full days of rest.
Only Nikola Jokic played the first half of the season finale against the Spurs, simply to make sure he qualified for his 65th game played and postseason awards, including MVP. He still had 23 points in just 18 minutes.
The Nuggets chose rest over seeding, and still got the better seed
The Nuggets chose to sit all of their starters against the Thunder, who had also decided to rest most of their key rotation players, too. But the Nuggets' bench was too much, and they pulled away late thanks to the 16-point fourth quarter from two-way player David Roddy.
The season finale found the Spurs with something to play for, and they still couldn't get past the Nuggets' bench with only Victor Wembanyama out for rest. It was a confidence-inspiring win for the second unit.
People questioned the Nuggets' decision, but it was a golden opportunity to get plenty of rest and enter round one of the playoffs unscathed by injury, something the Nuggets have had a hard time avoiding this year.
And they still wound up as the third seed. The Nuggets got their cake and ate it, too.
The Nuggets are playing confident basketball
Deploying your reserves and basically saying, "We don't care if we win, but we think our bench is better than your squad," takes a lot of confidence. If the Nuggets had lost either of the final two games of the season, they would have been the fourth seed, and they'd have had to face the Houston Rockets in round one, followed by the OKC Thunder in round two.
The Nuggets are just 1-3 against the Thunder this season, and the one win was the battle of the benches that went to Denver. The Nuggets are 3-1 against the Spurs.
The third seed may have taken the Nuggets into the Wolves' den, but they're 3-1 against Minnesota this year, and the path to the Western Conference Finals is easier going through San Antonio in round two.
The Nuggets enter the round one series against the Timberwolves on a 12-game winning streak. You can't find a much hotter team entering the playoffs.
Add us as a preferred source on Google